diff --git a/packages/jupyter-ai/jupyter_ai/chat_handlers/base.py b/packages/jupyter-ai/jupyter_ai/chat_handlers/base.py
index da7a3a650..08f03696c 100644
--- a/packages/jupyter-ai/jupyter_ai/chat_handlers/base.py
+++ b/packages/jupyter-ai/jupyter_ai/chat_handlers/base.py
@@ -134,8 +134,7 @@ def is_api_key_exc(self, e: Exception):
     def handle_api_key_exc(self, e: Exception, message: HumanChatMessage):
         provider_name = ""
         if hasattr(self.config_manager, "lm_provider"):
-            name = getattr(self.config_manager.lm_provider, "name", "")
-            provider_name = f" {name}" if name else ""
+            provider_name = getattr(self.config_manager.lm_provider, "name", "")
         response = f"Oops! There's a problem connecting to {provider_name}. Please update your {provider_name} API key in the chat settings."
         self.reply(response, message)